Polyplastics Group, a global expert in the development and production of engineering thermoplastics, will highlight its expanded product portfolio and material supply capabilities at the upcoming K 2022 exhibition.
The company will discuss the latest developments in its DURACON POM, LAPEROS LCP, and TOPAS COC product lines which address the demanding end-use requirements in the medical, electrical/electronics, and automotive industries.
With full acquisition by Daicel in 2020, Polyplastics has expanded its options for growth and geographical market coverage. The company has expanded LCP sales to EMEA and the Americas while making timely investments in capacity to better respond to market growth.
The company has announced that its Technical Solutions Center in Raunheim officially opened in April. The one-stop shop serves the technical support needs of its growing customer base in Europe. “This investment reaffirms our continued commitment to the engineering plastics market in Europe,” said Yohei Iizuka, managing director of Polyplastics Europe. “The new technical service operation will support application development work and enable our customers to shape their innovations from concept to commercialisation.”
The company has installed an injection moulding machine to facilitate customer moulding trials, improve processing issues, and support application development and other collaborative projects. A new showroom showcases Polyplastics’ leading-edge technologies, advanced concepts, and new materials. The showroom also provides space for customer seminars as well.
At K 2022, Polyplastics will also highlight its expanded global supply capability which includes planned construction of a new polyacetal manufacturing plant in Nantong Economic Development Zone, Jiangsu Province, China. The production capacity is planned to be 150,000 tonnes in total in two stages. The new capacity will satisfy growing demand for POM, improve lead times, and reduce transportation costs. The initial start-up of 90,000 tonnes is expected in November 2024.
Polyplastics’s LCP business - buoyed by strong growth in electrical/electronics - plans to construct a new polymerisation plant with production capacity of 5,000 tonnes/yr at Polyplastics Taiwan Co., Ltd. In recent years, LCP market demand has increased due to growing investments in 5G equipment. It is expected that LCP applications will continue to expand with the full-scale adoption of 5G and millimetre-wave devices.
Polyplastics will also highlight the strong growth for COC which will be supported by construction of a new production facility in Leuna, Germany. The new plant, to be operated by local Polyplastics subsidiary TOPAS Advanced Polymers, will have a capacity of 20,000 tonnes per year, adding significant room for growth beyond the current output. The facility will be operational by latter half of 2024.
COC has become a crucial component in many medical devices based on its outstanding purity and glass-like properties. In packaging products, TOPAS COC has raised the performance of commodity polyolefins, enabling the development of simpler, better recyclable and sustainable solutions.
Among the latest key material developments are the introduction of PLASTRON LFT resin which is made of specially formulated regenerated cellulose fibres. The eco-friendly PLASTRON LFT provides weight reduction plus mechanical strength, enabling manufacturers to reduce their carbon footprint and meet today’s sustainability demands.
Eco-friendly resins that incorporate natural fibres, starch, wood powder, and other plant-based and natural mineral filling materials are being considered for use in a broader range of applications. Cellulose is a promising material to help reduce CO2 emissions but its insufficient strength is a limiting factor. Polyplastics has addressed this problem by using regenerated cellulose in the development of LFT resins with an excellent balance of physical properties.